The fun theory

The fact that these nonscientific tests are sponsored by Volkswagen sour the deal a bit for me. But the theory is great: make people do good things by making them fun to do.

It’s hardly a revolutionary idea, but it’s one of the first times I’ve seen someone make a considerable effort to test it out.

But I have questions: Would it get annoying if all our trash cans and stair cases made noise? Would these ideas hold up over time? If the idea becomes commonplace, does it remain fun? What useful tasks do we do regularly that don’t lose their enjoyment factor?

I guess my point is that, yes, we need to find ways to encourage people to recycle and exercise, but I wonder if our nature as humans will “evolve” to resist such things once the fun wears off.

And then I wonder why it is some of us are more health- and earth-conscious and others are not. Perhaps we need to narrow that down and figure out what makes those people tick versus those that choose to be wasteful and slobby.